[Noctere's Rambling]Many players wonder why they cannot get into "such and such" guild as they REALLY want to use the fun abilities that the faction holds but often do not realize that -THAT- is the reason why. We tend to choose players based on their RP and sometimes will decline players who want to join a particular faction if we feel that their in character persona is not a match or they are merely feigning a little RP in that direction so they can get the abilities they want.

Your ability choices should be based off of your RP choices and not so much what is the most mechanically powerful. With that said if you would rather base all your abilities on what feels the most powerful, then you are most welcome to do so but that is your choice and not what the original spirit of the game intended. One should avoid joining a faction or guild just to "acquire cool abilities". That defeats the purpose of the guild as those abilities should be seen as a fun perk or flavor addition to your existing character's RP, not the goal.

I also tend to hear a lot of concerns on guild ability usefulness or balance. Something to the effect of, "I worked to join this guild but THIS ability stinks as Fredegar over in that other guild can EASILY defeat it with his guild ability." Please try to think of our balance system as one big game of "paper, scissors, rock." Some things will easily defeat your abilities while others will not. There should never be an almighty method or ability that trumps all. Granted some things may be more advantageous than others but never 100%. There is always a workaround, you should perhaps think a little more outside the box and avoid using the same tactics all the time. Plus always remember, you will always have a better chance of defeating something in a group as opposed to by yourself.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my rambling. I know our game is not perfect and we do appreciate the thoughts and time that people share with us to make it better.[/Noctere's Rambling]

I think one thing that should be thought about, is the fact that Generalization has opened up a lot of customization for characters. If a Guild ability is fairly limited in use/specialized/doesn't fit the character, just why is someone going to use it? Gone are the days when someone is going to get all the Guild abilities, or may even want more than one or two Guild abilities.

Generalization has really stopped cookie cutter builds when it comes to Guilds, I think, and made them a lot more interesting but as everyone knows it also has caused havoc with balance. One of the obvious ones early on, was the Dwaedn but it doesn't mean I don't think we'll find more as time goes on. I also think, reducing cookie cutter builds really should be considered more when designing Guilds. I'd long for a day when you couldn't tell that someone is a member of the Tse Gaiyan just because they use Archery (generalizing, but it tends to be a good bet) and so forth because there are enough options otherwise. I'm not saying that Guilds shouldn't have a focus but I've never been a fan of "You're X Guild, you *will* use this armor and weapon because that's the only way forward for you".